Forum Activity for @Joe Putnam

Stephanie Mayes, a diabetic herself, was the owner of Angelic Chocolates and if you read about her you will find that she was looking for a way to feed herself chocolate without affecting her diabetes too much. She found this in her refined recipe that she claims to have taken 4 years to perfect. Using nothing but strained chocolate and Himalayan salts she found that she could, in fact, fool the senses(so to speak). Now Cacao in the pod is surrounded by a white substance that is reported to be sweet to the taste. If this is true, and I don't doubt that it is, then Cacao must have some content of sweetener such as natural sugars. Rather minuscule perhaps but none the less it must contain some content of sugar. If your friends blood glucose level rose a little than I suspect it is because of the natural content of sugar contained in the chocolate. Remember Stephanie was a diabetic herself and she had heart issues as well and looked for a way to be able feed herself heart healthy chocolate. I don't believe that she mislead anyone and if her nutrition facts were incorrect she would probably have been visited by a gov. agency before now. This is wonderful chocolate.

We just received the bag of Angelic "Sugar Free" Chocolateson Tuesday. I distributed the 20 pieces to family and friends, a couple local chefs, andthe lastfew to co-workers. While I have not heard back from everyone as of yet, I myself can detect an after taste of sweetness. It almost tastes like a chocolate easter bunny... meaning that it has a smooth sugarery taste to it yet, not overpowering. A co-worker who is diabetic stated that her blood glucose level raised several points after eating it. Very disappointing, as my conclusion is that this chocolatier is not being honest with the list of ingredients on her bags of chocolate.

I suspect she's referring to "aspartame" which is the artificial sweetener in Nutrasweet, Equal (as name brand sweeteners) and in pretty much every diet soda out there.

Salt is noted for its ability to reduce bitterness in some contexts. Try adding tiny (!) amounts of salt to a cup of espresso, mix, and take a small sip. Do this a couple of times and pay attention to the sensation of bitterness as it changes.

Then it's basically just liquor. As Clay notes, it's not going to be a chocolate bar as most people have come to expect.

Nutritional values can either be generated using what's called the 'red book' of food nutritive values (basically a generic template of food categories maintained by the FDA), or using compositional analytical data generated in house or by your supplier. Almost everyone uses the red book, because it's easier.

I contacted the store this evening and the proclaim the ingredients are as stated previously: 4 cocoa beans from 4 different countries + Himalayan salt blended together.

How is the nutritional value established; i.e. who establishes this? Is this per state or determined by a separate entity?

Details are everything. It's a new operation run by an individual named Stephanie Mayes. Get her to send an ingredient list (she's required to have one).

Either this is almost pure liquor, or it's simply untrue. Tasting it should immediately tell you which one it is.

I have ordered a bag of Angelic Chocolates for my family and friends to sample. However my friend and daughter who is diabetic proclaim the chocolates to be anything but bitter and without a salty after taste.

I shall update everyone on the flavor once we have tasted the chocolates.

Allie:

Apart from the fact that I have not idea what "appertains" are and I don't see a reference to them on the web site, there's nothing in the company's claims that is not possible. (And strictly speaking, it would be sorbitol not sorbitals).

What I would take away from the description is that the chocolate will be very intense. For most people, 90%+ chocolates are very much acquired tastes and most people find it very difficult to eat more than a very small portion at a time.

But - just ground cocoa beans and salt? It's a legitimate recipe - though again, strictly speaking, most "Himalayan" salt is mined in Pakistan.

I have been researching and testing various recipes for sugar free chocolates. A friend recently stumbled upon a sugar free version during her family vacation to Williamsburg, VA. The chocolate is claimed to be dairy free and sugar free and comprised of cocoa beans from 4different countries+ himalayan salt blended together. That is it. The company Angelic Chocolates claims there is no sugar, sugar substitutes, sorbitals, fructose, corn syrups or appertains in their product. Has anyone ever heard of this? And would this be possible?

To all members of TheChocolateLife:

Looking to have your posts edited like the following and possibly have your membership suspended? Then continue to post messages like the following after being asked NOT to.

:: Clay

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Tempting chocolates implies [brand name deleted here because of spam]. Here I have found wide variety of chocolates nutty centers, crunches, rich truffles, soft caramels and many more with the good quality and considerable price. I was searching for good online chocolate shopping in [city name deleted here because of spam]and I found that[brand name deleted here because of spam] is the best choice.

[link to web site deleted here because of spam]

I heat it to between 160 and 180F. It is liquid enough at 160 but by the time I dispense 1/2 of it from the batter dispenser, the flow slows and I cannot empty the whole thing. There ends up being about 1/4" thick of fudge-like fondant lining the dispenser which I have to scrape out and reheat.

I began making fondant for a cream center that has sold MUCH better than I thought it would. Now I need to make it on a bit bigger scale. It is a basic sugar, corn syrup, water recipe with invertase and flavor added after cooling and agitation. Here is my dilemma. I currently reheat the fondant in the microwave enough to put it in a batter dispenser to get it into the molds. But as soon as it cools even a little, it sets up in the batter dispenser. The process of reheating over and over does not lend itself to the amount of production I need to do.

Does anyone have ideas for either thinning it temporarily (will still need to set up in the molds enough to remove and enrobe) or dispensing it some other way? Could I pour it into a frame and cut on a guitar cutter? I have to figure something out fast because making these is killing me!

Page 60 - http://books.google.ca/books?id=P-hFBMEBLBAC&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=baume/brix/celsius+table&source=bl&ots=d3aoLI4MC2&sig=hQ8Qj6LoLCljk4Kmp_hShpTu-2k&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4qpTUYLUDuLbyQHMr4GYCw&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=baume%2Fbrix%2Fcelsius%20table&f=false

One of my favorite products is a Black & Tan Citrus Confit (candied orange peel dipped half and half in milk and dark), and I've never heard of the term "brix solution"... Maybe it's because I'm completely self-taught, but nothing like this term ever came up in the book I use (Greweling's Chocolates and Confections At Home).

I am trying to candy orange peels. Does anyone know how to achieve the brix solution w/o a refractometer. I one i have, it's range is 58-90. I need to start at 40. w/ pate de fruit there is a temp range that correlates 68 brix w/ approximately 222.3 degrees but i can't find one for candying.

The problem may be that your pretzels are not the same temperature as your liquid chocolate. Try warming them a bit with a hair dryer before depositing them. Just make sure they don't get too hot and cause your chocolate to lose its temper.

I use a thicker bar mold (3.2 ozs), so that the nuts & pretzels can settle a bit. I warm my molds, deposit, vibrate, put in cooler at 50 till released. room temp is 70 humidity 50.

I found an organic non hydrogenated palm kernel oil I'm going to try ...

Thanks for the response... i had a chocolate spread "balling" issue where on cooling the butter oil and chocolate mixture formed cell-shaped balls instead of a uniform smooth paste. I hadn't tempered the chocolate so thought that maybe that was a factor.

either way I was looking at oils and Grape seed was my choice .... neutral , stable . Although popular Palm Kernel oil isn't for me .

I realise that it's no comparison to cream ganache , but I wanted the melting mouthfeel and not a fondant or butter centre .

I think the answers depend greatly on the details. I've had folks absolutely swear by tempering of the chocolate before mixing it with an oil. Personally, in every objective test i've ever done, i can't find evidence that's of long term textural benefit. Once you add a low saturated oil the mix, it blows up any benefits of tempering. I know this will be hotly contested, and folks - do whatever you think gives you the best results. Personally i'd save the time.

As to the ratio - again, depends on the specifics of your chocolate, it's formulation, and what oil you're planning on using. You might consider using something like a fractionated palm kernel oil for stability's sake (no one wants a rancid truffle), or you might opt for something like a canola oil with some vitamin e (antioxidant) - although truth be told i've not tested that variable, and while it makes sense that it'd work, i can not say with certainty.

If she's happy with the texture of the lindor truffle, it's not very difficult to determine how lindt's getting that by simply looking at their label 8-) while i've not had your ganache truffles (feel free to fix that by sending some to....), i think you'll be quite hard pressed to get an oil based truffle to match that of your cream based one, so be sure to manage expectations that the lindor's the target

I have a client that wants me to replace the commercially produced chocolates she uses for her gift baskets with my handmade products.

thing is, she also wants the same shelf life as the ( gasp! ) lindor truffles she currently gives out.

all my centers are ganache, whipped and piped, dipped... so that's out for a start.

How about a "meltaway" ? chocolate and oil 5:1 ratio.

My query is ... should I temper the mixture to prevent graining?

would it firm up if i whipped and piped it ?

I know I could just do it and see , but wanted to hear of any experience you guys may have .

People and dumb assed long shelf life ! Gah!

It's likely that they either use a dried yogurt powder blended with their liquid white chocolate center, or that they use yogurt as part of the ganache base instead of some other liquid. The strawberry flavor probably comes from a strawberry essential oil.

One of my favorite chocolates of all time is Yogurette by Ferrero. I just love the filling. I always had a hard time finding this chocolate except online. I recently discovered that another company makes a product quite similar by Ritter Sport. I am just wondering if anyone might have a recipe or some advice based on experience.

Hey!

I am now on the same point as you was. Looking for a bean cracker and a winnower. What is the best on the market now, if I don't wanna spend more than 5000$ ?

Thanks for any help

you can do quite a bit with a vacuum cleaner and some pvc piping - i'm sure there are drawings of something using those materials on the boards here somewhere. i'd look at those for something that's reasonably effective for what you'd be asking it to do, and is extraordinarily cost effective.

Hi there Ernesto,

I've looked around a little and I've come to the conclusion to go for the crankenstein and I will construct the winnower myself with a friend that is an engineer. Now when you are so kind to share your experience about these machines I don't see the value of that amount. I would rather spend the money on the tempering and melangeur.

I'm starting to get a good list of companys that sells used chokolate machines. I'm not in a rush to get the machines so I can wait for good opportunities but I need to know where to screen the used market.

Thank you very much for your reply!

Best regards,

Conny

Hi Conny,

I have bought the cocoa bean breaker and winnower from cpslimited. The cocoa bean breaker is ok but the winnower has a very small capacity ( only good for laboratory purposes) 1kg of roasted beans will take 30 min at least (not recommended)

Ernesto

Hello!

My name is Conny and I'm new to this community. I live in Sweden. I have been interested in making chocolate from bean to bar for a couple of years now and I have studied the process for doing this a little harder the last year. The goal is to set up a small scale production for chocolatebars.

I've searched this forum as well as every little corner of the internet to find machines that will fit in my production. It is here I think I will need some help.I dont think I have asked myself the right questions about the quantity that I'm looking to produce. I would like to have the capacity of making roughly about 5000-10000 bars (60g)/month.

Now I'm wondering if you can help me with som tips and links to where I can buy machinery and accessories for my little venture. Used or new doesn't matter. I'm trying to find machines in Europe since I've read that the is a good aftermarket but I can almost only find big industrial machines.My budget is $20k (will this even be enough?)

Roaster?

Please come with ideas. I saw the Mastbrother was using a hot air-owen for this. I was thinking of using the same with a custommade barrel inside.

Cocoa breaker and winnower (is this recommended?):

http://www.cpslimited.net/html/breaker.htm

$ 4873

Or I will go with the crankenstein ( http://shop.chocolatealchemy.com/products/crankandstein-cocoa-mill ) and build my own winnower since I read a really bad review about the above. I calculate that to be about $1500 if I go that way.

Grinder/Conching/refining?

ECGC-65-A Grindeur about $5500-6000 including shipping and taxes.

Tempering?

What is the best choice?

Packaging

Will do the packaging by hand the first time and the packages will be planned for this.

All help is appreciated.

Hello Brad. Sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong thread: I can't find your original post regarding your Hot Chocolate formula. Also, I apologize for being "thick" not understanding your process. Your post went something like this:

"Premake your drinking chocolate base using a scaled up recipe of 1 part liquor, 2 parts granulated sugar, and one part powdered sugar. We make 16 litres at a time, heat it to 165 degrees F and put it in a fridge to cool. It's important to NOT bring it to a boil, but heat it high enough to kill pathogens.

Then when a customer orders, we portion out 200ml and use a cappuccino steamer to heat it. It only takes a few seconds, and at that time the cornstarch in the powdered sugar thickens the drink, making it very rich and creamy."

Can I ask what is being heated to 165? Is it just the chocolate, then adding the sugars? Is this being added to heated milk at the end of the process?

Second question: the link you gave for the BABBYNITA machine above has been sold and no info is available about it. Any other suggestions for inexpensive steamers? Thanks again for the help, John Duxbury

Hi Brad, hi Clay,

Yes indeed I wanted something different that would add a little "chemistry touch" or so to the process of making hot chocolate. However finding that with sufficient volume capacity turns out to be way more complicated than I'd have guessed.

I thank you both for your replies and I wish you a great day.

Olivier

Brad:

I read the OP to say they wanted to try something new and different (i.e., not a ladle - which I also interpreted to mean not a measuring cup) to transfer the chocolate from an existing bain marie (not in buying a new machine). I also read Olivier's profile and he's from Switzerland and I learn now in Chile, so the suggestion of a comparatively low-tech concept that could be implemented many ways turned out to be especially appropriate.

Replacing the siphon hose is trivial; I was pointing out anapproachto solving the problem of finding a new and different way to dispense hot chocolate, not suggesting a specific piece of equipment.

NN2R (no need to respond) to me on this. If you have something in line with what Olivier was asking for, please feel free to respond to the spiritof his OP.

Clay, the problem with a syphon like you suggested is that the hose is corrugated, and will trap the hot chocolate and make it hard to clean.

There are MANY inexpensive hot chocolate dispensers on the market, just this one on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BABBYNITA-Hot-Chocolate-Machine-/350262367584?pt=BI_Hot_Beverage_Brewers&hash=item518d439560

Failing that, a simple stainless steel measuring cup works just fine. My shops use about 32 litres of our drinking chocolate every week, and that's all we use to pour into our steamer cups. There really is no need to make things complicated.

Cheers.

Brad

Hi Clay,

Thanks for the great idea. As I am in Chile I'll try to get one shipped down here. I have already looked into veterinarian tools, "car oil" pumps and other interesting tools but none have been satisfying up until now so I'll try yours and see how it goes.

If anyone thinks of something else, I am all ears.

Olivier

Olivier -

You are right - there's nothing I can find in the way of pipettes and basters that are larger than about 40-60mls.

I wonder if a siphon like this one might work.

It will do about 1 pint (about 475ml) in three strokes, once primed. You could move the supply hose from the chocolate to a container of water to clean (by pumping) after each serving. With the right mounting hardware something like this could be pretty cool for serving hot chocolate.

Hi everyone,

I am making hot/cold chocolate out of a large pot (bain marie) and I am looking for a creative way to transfer the milk/hot chocolate from the pot to the cup. Using a ladle is not so convenient and I have been investigating the following leads:

- Bulbs with a pipette as used for chemistry experiment. Picture here: http://www.ibotz.com/pipette-bulbs-pvc-pearp-shape.html

- A syringe

My main issue in both cases has been to find equipment that could handle 350+ ml. I thought of these equipements as they are easy to clean and fun to use. It add a little fun factor to the hot chocolate making in front of your customers.

How do you guys handle it? Using a standard dispenser? isn't it a bit risky with milk as it might be hard to clean well and then with milk germs proliferate fast.

If you have any ingenious idea please share it here.

Thank you.

Olivier

Does anyone know how, why, when the magnetic molds made their appearance in the chocolate world? Who invented them? who was the first to commercialize them?

Search the forum for shelf life and extending shelf life.

When they're already set, you could freeze them in a air tight container, if you need/want to make them im advance, then when you need them put them in the fridge, than at room temperature, always inside the container. You could definitely try letting them come back up to room temp before packaging, That's how I make my truffle in advance and I never had problems with sugar bloom

Good luck!

Daniela, thank you for the response. I will try that and see if it helps. I am wondering also if I just packaged too soon, and having the bark come up to room temperature in the cello added also to the sugar bloom problem? Thank you again for the response.